That dollar figure, if true, would be for a "Proof" or "Uncirculated" near perfect conditioned coin that has been sent off for official certification and then placed into a sealed plastic slab by one of the professional coin grading companies. Then a price fetched at a high-end national coin auction.
Pulling a coin from circulation that is
NOT "Brilliant Uncirculated" condition or an "S Mint" Proof in pristine condition, is not what that price is reflecting....

The coin you pictured is only worth face value, and your coin is a "D" mint not an "S" mint, as that site suggests. There may indeed have been a perfect 1971 S mint slabbed Lincoln sold at an auction for that price, I don't know.
But they are suggesting the whole range of potential value there, the highest figures being extremely rare though.
Edited by eaglefoot
04/26/2016 09:48 am